Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, January 4
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
9
vs
24
Old Dominion
CMU's Logan Parks (right) battles third-ranked Larry Early of Old Dominion during a MAC dual on Friday at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Parks Posts Huge Victory In CMU's Dual Loss
1/4/2019 10:40:00 PM | Wrestling
Chippewas fall in MAC dual to Old Dominion
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A huge win for Logan Parks. Lessons learned for the Central Michigan wrestling team.
Old Dominion won seven matches, three of them by major decision, in handing the Chippewas a 24-9 loss in a Mid-American Conference dual on Friday at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas slipped to 2-3 overall, 1-1 MAC. The Monarchs are 2-2, 1-1.
Parks, a CMU junior, defeated Larry Early, 4-0, in the 157-pound match. Early, a junior and an NCAA Championships qualifier last season, entered the match ranked third nationally. It was the first time the two had ever met.
Parks is unranked and improved to 16-7 on the season. His victory came less than a week after he went 7-2 to place seventh at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
"I was pretty excited to wrestle him," Parks said. "I've wanted to wrestle him for a while. I've been trying to stay calm before matches, listen to calm music. I feel like that's been helping me a lot out there because I get too worked up and kind of wrestle myself out of the match."
Parks scored the first point with an escape early in the third period, and then got a takedown with 39 seconds remaining. He earned a riding-time bonus point for the 4-0 final, sending the Chippewa crowd into a frenzy.
"The whole match, just everything I did, I felt like they were behind my back," Parks said of the crowd. "It really pumped me up.
"I feel like I'm starting to wrestle smarter, think about my matches, instead of putting myself out there and wrestling myself out of a match."
CMU's other victories came from 16th-ranked Matt Stencel (285) and from Deven Perez (133).
CLOSE BATTLES
Stencel's 4-1 victory over Ali Wahab went the distance, a rarity for the sophomore who has recorded a pin in 12 of his 16 victories this season.
Perez scored a takedown with 1:20 left to seize a 7-5 lead over Killian Cardinale. After Cardinale escaped to draw to 7-6, Perez held on for the win.
While the Monarchs earned major-decision wins in three matches, the other matches were tight, going down to the wire.
At 125 CMU's Drew Hildebrandt dropped a 6-4 decision to Michael McGee; the Chippewas' Dresden Simon (149) fell, 4-3, after being taken down with under 50 seconds left; CMU's Jordan Atienza (184) dropped a 3-2 decision, allowing a late escape; and Landon Pelham (197) fell 4-2, surrendering a takedown in the waning moments.
"I think our guys are really trying to get better, we're just not there yet," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "This was a pretty athletic team that we wrestled and they came after us.
"They scored a lot at the end of periods or right at the end of the match. We just have to be more savvy in those situations. We're not experienced enough yet, we're not savvy enough. We're just not quite ready for that type of a challenge yet. We'll get to see those guys at the end of the year at the MAC Tournament and we'll see how much we can improve."
Old Dominion 24, Central Michigan 9
125: Michael McGee (O) dec. Drew Hildebrandt, 6-4
133: Deven Perez (C) dec. Killian Cardinale, 7-6
141: Sa'Derian Perry (O) major dec. Drew Marten, 12-3
149: Kevin Budock (O) dec. Dresden Simon, 4-3
157: Logan Parks (C) dec. Larry Early, 4-0
165: Shane Jones (O) major dec. Blake Montrie, 14-4
174: Seldon Wright (O) major dec. Collin Lieber, 18-6
184: Antonio Agee (O) dec. Jordan Atienza, 3-2
197: Tim Young (O) dec. Landon Pelham, 4-2
285: Matt Stencel (C) dec. Ali Wahab, 4-1
Old Dominion won seven matches, three of them by major decision, in handing the Chippewas a 24-9 loss in a Mid-American Conference dual on Friday at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas slipped to 2-3 overall, 1-1 MAC. The Monarchs are 2-2, 1-1.
Parks, a CMU junior, defeated Larry Early, 4-0, in the 157-pound match. Early, a junior and an NCAA Championships qualifier last season, entered the match ranked third nationally. It was the first time the two had ever met.
Parks is unranked and improved to 16-7 on the season. His victory came less than a week after he went 7-2 to place seventh at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
"I was pretty excited to wrestle him," Parks said. "I've wanted to wrestle him for a while. I've been trying to stay calm before matches, listen to calm music. I feel like that's been helping me a lot out there because I get too worked up and kind of wrestle myself out of the match."
Parks scored the first point with an escape early in the third period, and then got a takedown with 39 seconds remaining. He earned a riding-time bonus point for the 4-0 final, sending the Chippewa crowd into a frenzy.
"The whole match, just everything I did, I felt like they were behind my back," Parks said of the crowd. "It really pumped me up.
"I feel like I'm starting to wrestle smarter, think about my matches, instead of putting myself out there and wrestling myself out of a match."
CMU's other victories came from 16th-ranked Matt Stencel (285) and from Deven Perez (133).
CLOSE BATTLES
Stencel's 4-1 victory over Ali Wahab went the distance, a rarity for the sophomore who has recorded a pin in 12 of his 16 victories this season.
Perez scored a takedown with 1:20 left to seize a 7-5 lead over Killian Cardinale. After Cardinale escaped to draw to 7-6, Perez held on for the win.
While the Monarchs earned major-decision wins in three matches, the other matches were tight, going down to the wire.
At 125 CMU's Drew Hildebrandt dropped a 6-4 decision to Michael McGee; the Chippewas' Dresden Simon (149) fell, 4-3, after being taken down with under 50 seconds left; CMU's Jordan Atienza (184) dropped a 3-2 decision, allowing a late escape; and Landon Pelham (197) fell 4-2, surrendering a takedown in the waning moments.
"I think our guys are really trying to get better, we're just not there yet," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "This was a pretty athletic team that we wrestled and they came after us.
"They scored a lot at the end of periods or right at the end of the match. We just have to be more savvy in those situations. We're not experienced enough yet, we're not savvy enough. We're just not quite ready for that type of a challenge yet. We'll get to see those guys at the end of the year at the MAC Tournament and we'll see how much we can improve."
Old Dominion 24, Central Michigan 9
125: Michael McGee (O) dec. Drew Hildebrandt, 6-4
133: Deven Perez (C) dec. Killian Cardinale, 7-6
141: Sa'Derian Perry (O) major dec. Drew Marten, 12-3
149: Kevin Budock (O) dec. Dresden Simon, 4-3
157: Logan Parks (C) dec. Larry Early, 4-0
165: Shane Jones (O) major dec. Blake Montrie, 14-4
174: Seldon Wright (O) major dec. Collin Lieber, 18-6
184: Antonio Agee (O) dec. Jordan Atienza, 3-2
197: Tim Young (O) dec. Landon Pelham, 4-2
285: Matt Stencel (C) dec. Ali Wahab, 4-1
Players Mentioned
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
Wrestling vs Northern Illinois
Friday, January 17
Ben Bennett Insider - 11.15.24
Friday, November 15
Maroon and Gold Intrasquad Highlights
Monday, November 04
Wrestling Halloween Video - 10.31.24
Thursday, October 31